Throes of Reality
by NatNicole
Summary: He refused to believe any of it. That him existing was not real and these surroundings were. That his Heart was fake.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Kingdom Hearts.

 **Note:** The line 'she felt like a stupid character from a bad fanfiction who'd squirmed her way into their ranks, much to the chagrin of the readers' from the story 'Eclipse of the Heart' by FadedPhantom inspired this story along with rinsegaku's story 'Wanderer'.

*grins nervously* "Hopefully this self-insert will not be too cliché…"

* * *

 **Ep.1. Weirdoes in black**

* * *

The young boy slowly opened his eyes. He was floating? In green water?

 _Strange… Last thing I remember is getting electrocuted by a thunderbolt._

He squinted, trying to see better. Unfortunately, everything was still blurry. The teen placed his hands on the glass in front of him, glancing around only to realize he was inside a cylinder-shaped tank of some sort. _What the hell is going on?_

The 15-year-old tried to push against the glass, but it didn't budge. He then saw a black blob approaching.

The liquid was suddenly drained away, causing the boy to feel warmed metal underneath his feet. It was only then that he noticed a crucial little fact.

He was naked.

Any obscenities that were sure to come out of his mouth, however, were cut off from the start by that black blob. Which turned out to be a creepy guy with long, pale brown hair. "I am pleased with this success. Wonderful to see you awake, my Replica experiment."

 _What?! Experiment? That's a load of crap; I'm a person! But… the best way to find out what's happened to me is to play along, for now._

The teenager looked up at the man, who was probably in his late fifties and unfortunately almost a head taller than him. He put on a blank expression.

"Get dressed. I need to do more tests on you. Compared to No. i, you show even more promise. Probably because of the data…" Creepy Guy gestured to nearby clothes folded onto a desktop, then turned away first looking at the teen before his focus went elsewhere while muttering to himself.

The boy scowled at the man's retreating back, then remembered he was not wearing anything. Quickly dressing in the boxers, a yellow and black formfitting sleeveless shirt with a turtleneck collar and two black straps, indigo jeans, two blue overall-like bits of clothing over the legs, and black gloves that left the wrist exposed, he noted that Creepy Guy must be obsessed with the Playstation 2 videogame 'Kingdom Hearts'. He ran a hand through his bangs, scratching.

 _Did that weirdo dye my hair silver? What's he expecting me to do, prance around pretending I'm Riku?_ Annoyed, the boy crossed lean yet muscular arms as he frowned in thought. _I **gotta** get outta this place._

To his alarm, a round, purple-black mass appeared underneath his feet. He fell through with a yell, Creepy Guy whirling around with eyes widening at losing his only other successful Replica. At that same moment, a young man in his early twenties came in.

"Vexen, what happened?" he asked, though his tone was slightly monotone. It was clear he did not actually care and was only mildly curious.

"Zexion, my Riku Replica fell into a Corridor of Darkness!" Creepy Guy, now identified as Vexen, complained.

His younger colleague tilted his head, gloved fist resting against a cheek. "Interesting... It learned fast."

* * *

Meanwhile, the boy known to the black-coat people as Riku Replica was in a stranger place. It was mostly purple-black but had bright swirls of colour lighting it up. "Maybe I shouldn't have done whatever it is I did… Talk about from the frying pan into the fire. Nice going. …Maybe I should try again?"

He clenched his fists, face set in determination. "I want OUT!"

Suddenly, a hole rimmed with purple-black swirls appeared in front of him. The teen shrugged and entered.

He found himself in a spacious white room. Cyan eyes took it all in, narrowing in an attempt to lessen the glare from such brightness. The silverette scowled.

" **Now** where am I?"

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To be continued…

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AN: I have a bizarre obsession with wanting to die ala lightning. And I started this fic when I thought: _What would I do if I woke up as Roxas?_ Only, figured using Riku Replica would be easier seeing as Roxas had Ventus' heart in him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ep.2. Through Darkness we go**

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The boy who looked just like Riku took in the spacious white room, turning around in a slow circle as he scowled. " **Now** where am I?"

No answer came. _What did that guy in a black coat want with me? And what the heck is GOING ON?!_ Impatient, the 15-year-old started walking towards double doors at the end of this spacious white corridor.

The boy took a shaky step towards the double doors, feeling weak. Then another. And another. Inch by painstaking inch, he neared them. The silver-haired boy placed a hand on the pair of white doors and feebly pushed them above the handles after trying them only to discover these doors seem locked. No reaction whatsoever. He put a bit more force behind the push. For what felt like an hour (but was actually fifteen minutes), the boy tried to open the double doors with the two methods. Eventually he gave up.

"Hello?" Silence. The teenager scowled again, moodily kicking the doors. _Nope, nothing._ "Urgh, now I'm really getting ticked off."

Clenching gloved hands into fists, the silver-haired youngster tried to use his earlier trick to get out of there. But nothing happened! "Why is it not working?"

After several more minutes of trying to make an escape, he growled and flopped down onto the plain, pearly floor with his legs folded. _What am I supposed to do…? My body feels so_ _ **weak**_ _, I can't even stand! … Tired…_

Eyelids drooping, the boy soon fell onto his side as consciousness left him.

* * *

Half a dozen hours later, the boy awoke. He took in the sight of the corridor groggily. _I don't… understand. Where… am I? I'm supposed to be in my room. Or was that… just a dream?_ Confused, the teen did the only thing that made sense–

Slowly start getting up. _I feel so sluggish, like I ran a marathon but without the throbbing pain of a good work-out. Why…?_ He sat up and rubbed his face.

The boy used the double doors beside him to help pull himself upright, then leaned against them while looking up at the ceiling. "Hello?" The youngster looked around, and but saw no other humans around or clues about where he was. Actually, this place didn't even have furniture.

The silverette scratched his head, pondering on where he got the somewhat unusual garments from. An image of sitting on a sofa with some object in his hands while he watched a tiny figure clad in black on a screen move about trying to hit a thin, pale grey creature with a giant skeleton-key appeared in his mind.

"A'… game? A videogame, called 'Kingdom Hearts' and its sequel 'Kingdom Hearts II'. I remember playing them," the boy mumbled to himself. He shook his head. "Don't be stupid. Games can't be real. Right?"

 _But I seem to have been kidnapped from the park by some nutjob obsessed with KH_ , he thought, remembering Creepy Guy.

As his strength slowly but surely returned, the teen with cyan eyes declared: "I want to go home." He shut them tight and tried to open a portal. It was no good. Cracking one eye open, the 15-year-old sighed. _Maybe… I should try a smaller distance first? I_ _ **need**_ _to get on the other side of that wall._

Feeling an odd sensation build up in his chest and spread to the rest of this body, he opened his eyes to find a dark puddle swirl into existence in a vertical position right in front of him. Surprised that it worked, the boy hesitated for a moment. He knew this thing got him away from Creepy Guy earlier (or was it yesterday?), but it still felt eerie.

Pulling himself together, the boy stepped in. He came out some seconds later to find himself in another spacious white corridor. _Whoever designed this place has no imagination._

The boy scratched his head once again, trying to think of what to do considering opening that portal had been kinda tiring. He walked to the second set of white double doors on his right but found them locked when trying to push them open. "So much for that idea… Looks like Corridors of Darkness are the only way I can move around."

He decided to retreat, sitting atop a straight set of stairs that were opposite the double doors leading down into another shortish, wide corridor with one knee pulled up to rest his lower arm on. The boy sighed tiredly. _Guess I need to practice using the Corridors before I can actively go anywhere._

* * *

For what felt like weeks, the boy kept practicing use of the Corridors. He managed to arrive in the castle's – because that was the only thing this white place could be – kitchen one time and promptly ransacked it for cans of food, a fork and a can opener.

On the fifth day (not that the boy knew this), he arrived in **another** corridor. _I'm strong enough to explore some more on foot without being unable to escape if I run into Organization XIII._ So the teen started walking towards the steps located on his left.

As he came to the last few, the silverette saw another boy enter through the white double doors. _Whoever designed the place really needs to hear about the colour wheel._ This random thought was pushed aside in favour of taking in the slightly younger teen clad mostly in bright red.

"Ah! … You… You are… Riku." As the spiky-haired brunette spoke, he mentally identified the lightly tanned teenager as Sora – protagonist of 'Kingdom Hearts'. "What are you doing here?"

 _Guess this is the longest dream_ _ **ever**_ _. Either way…_ "Not happy to see me? Let me know if I'm getting in the way; you know, if there's something that's more important."

"Huh? I didn't mean that."

Now he felt bad for Sora and a little guilty for taking his annoyance out on the friendly boy. Which only served to make him more frustrated. "Spare the excuses. I bet that you'd all but forgotten about me." _That's what I seem to have done. Forgotten the people important to me._

"What are you talking about? I came all the way here looking for you."

 _And that's how you end up sleeping long enough to outgrow your current clothes by a fair few sizes._ He had no idea what to say. _…Should I pretend_ _ **I'm**_ _Riku?_

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To be continued…

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AN: I'm only writing this when stuck from writer's block on all my other fics. Regardless, there will be effort put into making this story at least not-too-stupid. Your opinion?

 **Heeere's a vote for all you readers** : Do you want me to edit this chapter and go with my original idea of Self-Insert Riku Replica pretending he's canon Riku & join the trio on their travels? Or is him meeting Ven better?


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